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Celebrating Tourism Careers
Organizations are continuing to fill their open positions, members are expanding their horizons by taking on new roles, and others are saying “bon voyage” as they announce their well-earned retirements. Join us in celebrating members’ successes and wishing them luck on their new adventures!
Read on to see who’s going where, plus check out the latest open positions in our industry.
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Brisette Baugh, Sales & Marketing Manager, Visit Pleasant Hill
Visit Pleasant Hill has hired Brisette Baugh as its new Sales and Marketing Manager. Brisette is a Bay Area native with over eight years of experience in hospitality and sales and a passion for the outdoors and traveling. She has developed a knack for building strong relationships and promoting brands, which has been a key factor in her success. Her love for building and promoting communities has led her to Pleasant Hill, where she has been actively involved in hotel sales and events. Her new role will allow her to combine her passion for sales and her enjoyment of marketing. Brisette is eager to connect with like-minded individuals in the industry and wants to be a role model for the younger generation pursuing careers in hospitality and tourism.
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Jay Burress, Executive Vice President, Tourism, Hunden Partners
Hunden Partners has hired Jay Burress as Executive Vice President of Tourism. He joins the team with over 35 years of DMO experience, having led destinations like Anaheim, Dallas, and Arlington to new heights. In his new role, he’ll be utilizing his passion for destination development with DMOs leading the way. His primary focus is on the execution of Hunden’s Placemaking Plans and associated destination development studies and implementation efforts, including major tourism-inducing assets such as entertainment, sports, and convention facilities and events. Jay has long believed that DMOs must become placemakers in addition to sales and marketing organizations, and this next step of the DMO evolution will benefit destinations and ensure DMOs are seen as valued leaders in this effort.
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Jackie Calvert, Director of Tourism Marketing & Management, Visit Truckee-Tahoe
Visit Truckee-Tahoe has expanded its team with the hiring of Jackie Calvert as Director of Tourism Marketing and Management. Jackie has held marketing management positions at Palisades Tahoe since 2011, most recently as Digital Marketing Director. In 2024, Jackie and her team won Visit California’s Poppy Award for “Best Paid Brand Campaign.” Visit Truckee-Tahoe’s two-year strategic plan is structured to balance economy, community, and stewardship—and Jackie’s career as a place-based marketing strategist with a passion for brand storytelling makes her an ideal fit. She is a long-time Truckee local who grew up skiing in a family with roots in the winter sports industry.
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Jackie Plaza, VP of Marketing, SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego has hired Jackie Plaza as its new VP of Marketing. Jackie is making the the move from Los Angeles where she was serving as Director of Marketing & Communications at Fairmont Century Plaza. In her nearly 20-year career, she has led the marketing and communications efforts at Los Angeles’ most iconic retail, hospitality, and entertainment destinations. With over eight years of retail marketing success, she has developed and executed strategic campaigns that drive revenue, traffic, and brand reputation. Community engagement, partnership, and problem-solving sit at the core of her philosophy for brand success. Jackie is most excited to work for such an iconic brand that creates lasting memories for families.
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Kate Skidmore, Senior Sales Director, Bandwango
Bandwango has hired Kate Skidmore as Senior Sales Director. She joins the team with over 17 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. Most recently, she served as Senior Sales Director at Adara. Her journey in tourism began with seven years at San Diego Tourism Authority, where she developed her passion for the DMO world. She also previously spent seven years with Destinations International (DI) as Senior Director of Membership Engagement, working with over 650 DMOs. During her time with DI, she earned her CDME - Certified Destination Management Executive. Kate is excited to continue her journey in the tourism industry, sharing her passion for people first, travel, technology, and Bandwango's vision of connecting communities to local businesses.
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Mike Waterman, President & CEO, Visit Anaheim
Visit Anaheim has appointed Mike Waterman as its new President and CEO. Mike is a hospitality veteran with over 30 years of leadership and sales experience, including his most recent role as Chief Sales Officer at Visit Orlando and previous role as President & CEO of the Greater Houston CVB. He began his career at Marriott International, where he served as VP of Sales for the Western region, overseeing 100 properties including a group of hotels in Los Angeles' L.A. Live. In his new role, Mike will be the strategic and visionary leader responsible for developing, directing, and overseeing Visit Anaheim. He will lead the organization’s efforts to draw conventions and visitors to the Anaheim area to bring economic growth to the community.
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Jeffrey Church, President & CEO, Visit Berkeley
Following a national search, Visit Berkeley has appointed Jeffrey Church as its new President and CEO. He becomes Visit Berkeley’s second CEO, following the retirement of Barbara Hillman who held the role since the organization’s founding in 1992. Jeffrey has been with the organization for over seven years, most recently serving as Director of Partnership Development where he developed lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships with the city’s hospitality industry. He’s excited to take on this new role, promote a destination that he’s come to know and love, and work with Visit Berkeley’s talented team. In addition to leading Visit Berkeley, he will serve as the city’s Film Commissioner. A California native, Jeffrey was raised in San Jose and graduated from the UC Berkeley.
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Nancy Beckman, President & CEO, Visit Lodi
Nancy Beckman has announced her retirement as President and CEO of Visit Lodi, after having led the organization for over 20 years. Nancy was named the organization’s executive director in 2001. By 2004, Tourism Business Improvement Assessment Districts managed by lodging properties became the standard for funding destination marketing organizations across the country, and their local lodging partners stepped up. At the time, there were 16 lodging properties in Lodi, and today there are more than 90, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfast inns, and short-term rentals. Nancy retires as the organization celebrates 25 years of growing with and supporting the city of Lodi. She looks forward to this next chapter of life, but will miss all the amazing people she’s worked with over the years. She will officially retire in September, and the organization is actively searching for its next CEO.
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Annabel Chang, Head of State Policy & Government Relations, Waymo
Annabel Chang is Head of State Policy & Government Relations at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company creating a new way forward in mobility. She previously served as the first Vice President at Alaska Airlines for the San Francisco Bay Area, where she shaped and executed strategic external relations, local government advocacy, and community relations efforts. Annabel also contributed to the policy landscape as Director of Public Policy for Lyft, working on initiatives related to the sharing economy, technology policy, and autonomous vehicles.
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Alyssa Ravasio, Founder & CEO, Hipcamp
Alyssa Ravasio is the founder and CEO of the largest marketplace for booking campsites, Hipcamp. The company has opened access to over five million acres of land globally and over 150,000 campsites, with 85% of those sites found only on Hipcamp. Hipcamp’s mission is to get more people outside, and they will support millions of campers spending millions of nights outdoors under the stars this year. Alyssa has a degree in Digital Democracy from UCLA and is very passionate about harnessing the power of the internet and AI to create a better future for our planet.
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Alysia Rivers, Advocacy & Business Development Manager, BizFed, Los Angeles
Alysia Rivers is the Advocacy & Business Development Manager for Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed), a massive grassroots alliance that unites chambers of commerce, trade associations, minority business groups, economic development organizations, business improvement districts, and other business groups to advocate for policies and projects that strengthen the regional economy. Alysia is an author and community activist with a track record of driving political campaigns to victory, mobilizing groups to increase civic engagement, and project managing teams committed to empowering children.
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Know someone looking for a fresh start? Check out our Tourism Career Opportunities page! This job board serves to connect employers with talented, qualified travel and tourism professionals looking for new opportunities to succeed.
Is your organization hiring? If so, please send us your open positions! We will help you get the word out to our ever-growing network of travel and tourism leaders across the state, at no cost to members. To submit an open position, please reach out to gabriella@caltravel.org.
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If you know about about any retirements, promotions, new hires, or other career moves, or if you have any news of your own, please let us know for an upcoming newsletter. Please send news to me at tricia@caltravel.org.
Thank you,
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Tricia Yanez
Director of Operations
tricia@caltravel.org
408-904-8474
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